


Scent of Death

by Tarlan



Category: Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-10
Updated: 2011-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-14 15:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/150899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nickie flies down to Hawaii and discovers it is not such a paradise....especially without Peter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scent of Death

**Author's Note:**

> Written for **smallfandomfest** FEST08

When he reached the hotel in Hawaii, Nickie smiled at all the beautiful people in their skimpy clothes and suntanned skin. Several raised eyebrows at him that were not overly welcoming but Nickie refused to let it spoil his pleasure at finally being somewhere exotic.

"Aloha. Welcome to the Rainbow Inn, Mr. Elder."

Nickie caught himself from correcting the receptionist, recalling that he had deliberately booked without using his medical title. He had wanted to step away from the Coroner's Office and the scent of death that lingered there, breathing in life instead.

"Your room is 523 with a balcony as requested. If you take the elevator from the lobby to the 5th floor and then turn right."

Nickie grinned and accepted the key eagerly. "Thank you."

"Have a nice stay, Mr. Elder."

It wasn't the best hotel on Waikiki Beach but it was still pretty exclusive, filled with those who could afford just that little bit more than the average tourist. He had saved up for over a year to cover the cost, and he was determined to have a fantastic time. When he reached his room, Nickie gave the bellhop a tip and left his luggage where it had been placed so he could survey the tasteful room. He pushed open the balcony door and stepped outside, looking down across the beach to where fine, pale golden sand stretched for miles. Palm trees were swaying in the late afternoon breeze just as he imagined, and the sound of native Hawaiian music drifted up from far below. It was exactly what he had pictured and he closed his eyes and let his head fall back, letting the sun caress his face. When he breathed in, all he could smell was the ocean. Clean and fresh.

Deciding to unpack later, Nickie smothered himself in suntan lotion before setting off downstairs, not wanting to take a gamble with his fair skin even this late in the day. He had at least an hour or two before the hotel luau, and a walk along the beach would be a perfect start to his vacation. As soon as he stepped onto the sand, Nickie knew he wanted to feel the sand between his toes, so he sat down and pulled off his sandals and socks. He wiggled his toes into the sand and grinned at the soft warmth. Standing up, he held his sandals in one hand and began to walk, taking in all the scents and sounds surrounding him.

Everywhere he looked he could see happy, smiling people. Many were in groups--families or friends--but there were plenty of others lying alone with eyes closed as they soaked up the last of the sun's heat, or sitting propped up against a palm tree, reading. Tomorrow he planned to spend part of the day simply lying on a towel on this beach, and occasionally dipping his toes into the water that lapped against the shore. It occurred to him then that he didn't even have to wait that long. Angling towards the water, he made threaded his way through the thinning crowds of sunbathers and stood at the water's edge, letting the waves rush over his toes. It was a little colder than he expected but this was an ocean, not a heated swimming pool.

He walked along the beach, loving the way his feet sank a little into the sand as the water washed over his feet, ankle deep. Above him, sea birds were crying out, and behind him he heard snatches of various music from different groups he passed. The only thing that would have made it a true paradise was if Peter had come with him.

Eventually, he remembered to glance at his wrist watch and was surprised that he had been walking for over forty minutes. It was time to head back.

The sun was setting ahead of him and he stopped to watch it for a moment before carrying on back to his hotel. With darkness falling, it took him a moment to figure out where to find his hotel but the lights started to come on, and the Rainbow Inn sign lit up in all the colors of the rainbow.

Nickie decided to shower and change before heading down for the first of his pre-booked pleasures--the hotel luau that would take place in one of the large ballrooms for paying guests only. Having showered and changed into a fresh shirt, Nickie stared at his face in the bathroom mirror, catching sight of the beard that he had been growing for six weeks. It had itched a lot in the first few weeks but it was neat and tidy now. He thought it would make him look professional but, instead, it made him feel old and out of place. Certainly he felt it looked professional against his dress shirts and white doctor's coat but perhaps it simply didn't suit the bright Hawaiian shirt.

Nickie changed his shirt to a more somber pattern and coloring but he still didn't feel good. It occurred to him then that he didn't want to look professional here on vacation. He wanted to look young and carefree. Nickie thought he had deliberately left Doctor Nicholas Elder behind in Toronto but looking in the mirror he realized that he had brought that man with him, reflected in his face. He pulled off his shirt and filled the basin, glad that he had chosen a more expensive hotel that had a complimentary shaving kit in the bathroom cabinet. It took a while but he felt his spirit lighten with every stroke of the razor over his face, only nicking himself a few times.

Stepping back fifteen minutes later, with his clean-shaven face and the brightly colored Hawaiian shirt, Nickie gazed at his reflection and grinned.

He picked up his wallet, room key and Luau entrance ticket, and headed down stairs.

*****

The meal and entertainment had been excellent, and Nickie felt pleasantly tipsy without being inebriated, having kept the drinking to a bare minimum of two cocktails. He had seen too many alcohol-related, accidental deaths to go willingly down that path alone. The last time he'd drunk a few too many, Peter had been there to watch over him and makes sure he got home safely. He missed his friend. The warm night air beckoned him and he wandered out onto the beach with a small group of people he had sort of joined up with at the Luau--two couples, two guys close to his age and three slightly older ladies who had come to Hawaii for the sun and fun. As Geraldine linked her hand through his arm, he had a feeling that they had already paired themselves off and he felt a little uneasy because, despite his words about the babes waiting for him here, Nickie had no inclination towards finding a holiday romance.

The others had all been drinking a lot more than him so he almost felt responsible for them, but he didn't mind. It was good to see people laughing and enjoying themselves. Good to see life rather than the stillness of death. Nickie wished Peter could have seen this too. Although most of Nickie's work was spent around corpses, Peter saw too much death in his line of work too. For a moment Nickie felt guilty for leaving Peter with another murder to solve alone but he shook it off. Peter had barely acknowledged his presence, and he hadn't even said goodbye or wished him a great vacation.

A scream echoed along the beach and Nickie froze in fear for a moment. It wasn't the shriek of someone surprised by a playful friend or lover; it was a scream of terror. Nickie glanced at the others in his small party and, together they raced over the sand towards the water. In the light cast out by the hotels, he could see a woman on her knees facing the water's edge, one hand pressed against her mouth and Nickie sent Geraldine and one of the couples over to her. He and the two single guys went to the water but Nickie stopped them before they could reach for the body floating face down, washed up against the shore.

"They might still be--"

"No. he's dead. Call 911. And everyone should step back," Nickie stated.

Nickie knew the scent of death all too well and just a glance showed that this man's body had been in the water for at least a day as rigor mortis had started to diminish. He could see small bites marks made post-mortem by all the nibblers in the ocean.

"Shark attack?" Someone asked.

"No. I don't think so," Nickie replied but he would have no way of telling for sure unless he took a closer look at the lacerations over the torso, but they reminded him of mechanical damage. Possibly the outboard motor of a small boat but, again, the damage was post mortem.

He looked over his shoulder at the colorful rainbow lights and at the horror etched on the faces around him. A few moment's ago he had been so close to paradise but it had lost its perfection and innocence now, and the scent of death was all around him again.

The Police arrived quickly and cordoned off this part of the beach but Nickie felt compelled to stay close, aware that as one of the first people on the scene, the Police would want to question him. He huddled into himself and watched as the coroner knelt down beside the body. The coroner lifted one of the victim's arms to reveal a bite mark.

"Looks like the victim of a shark attack."

He couldn't help interfering. "Actually that bite mark is post-mortem. If you look at the surrounding tissue you'll notice--"

"Who the hell are you?"

"Um. Doctor Nicholas Elder, Deputy Coroner... with the San Francisco Coroner's Office." He huffed a strained laugh. "I'm on vacation."

He passed the Police officer his ID to hand to the coroner. The coroner studied it for a moment before handing it back to the officer, making a small gesture before turning to look at Nickie with intrigue.

"So how long do you think this man's been in the water?"

The crime scene lights were illuminating the body so Nickie moved closer, studying the body from several feet away. "Judging by the skin condition and diminishing rigor mortis I would say between 24 to 36 hours, which is why I'm surprised a lot more bites haven't been taken out of him."

The police officer had disappeared with Nickie's ID badge but he returned and shrugged. "He's legit, Doctor Andrews. Just had a word with a detective at the 101st Precinct in San Francisco, who vouched for him." The officer turned to Nickie, holding out his ID card. "Detective Caine was a little put out. Something about you're supposed to be looking at _live_ bodies."

Nickie flushed in embarrassment. "Just a private joke."

Before leaving to catch his flight, he recalled asking Peter if he looked like a deputy coroner dressed in his vacation outfit, and Peter had barely looked up from his report, just saying that as long as Nickie didn't have _Coroner's Weekly_ or _Corpses I've Known_ delivered to his room then he'd be fine. Standing around discussing a dead body that had washed up on the beach was probably worse than that judging by the way Geraldine and the rest of his newfound friends were backing away from him. He sighed.

"It's a bit of a imposition but we're shorthanded this week. You up to helping me autopsy this guy?"

Nickie was torn. This was supposed to be a vacation of a lifetime with sun, surf and hot dates but he had to admit that he was totally intrigued by the dead body. There should have been more nips taken out of it, especially if it had been in the ocean that long. And to be truthful, when he booked this vacation all those months ago, he hadn't realized he was in love with his best friend. None of the live bodies down here held any interest for him, so that only left the sea, sun and sightseeing. Even if he spent half a day at the Coroner's Office, he'd still have plenty of time left .

He nodded and indicated towards the _Do Not Cross This Line_ tape. The officer nodded. "Go ahead, Doc."

****

Nickie indicated towards the liquid drawn from the man's lungs. "This is fresh water!" He had an idea and tested a small sample, sniffing at it too before looking to Doctor Andrews smugly. "Chlorine. It's swimming pool water. That explains why the body wasn't as badly eaten. It hadn't been in the sea all that long. And I was right about these lacerations. Post-mortem. These could have happened any time after the body was dumped, or more likely they were caused by the propeller of the boat used to dump the body."

Andrews had been working on the head. "See this? Skull fracture. It was most likely the cause of the drowning."

Nickie nodded. With no other signs of foul play on the body, Nickie had a theory.

"The guy must have slipped by the pool, cracked his head open and ended up in the water unconscious. He drowned in the pool and the body wasn't discovered until last evening, a day later. And that's where it gets weird. Someone found him so why not call the police. Why go to all the trouble of moving the body and dumping it in the ocean?"

"Why last evening?"

"Hmm? Oh! Uh...Too few nibblers. And I checked the currents off Waikiki Beach for last night. The current would only have pushed the body towards the beach if it had been dumped between 10 and 11 last night from within 500 yards of the shore line."

Nickie yawned suddenly and stared towards the clock on the wall. It was after three in the morning and they had been working on the body for over three hours. Andrews stripped off his gloves and walked round the table, clapping Nickie on the shoulder.

"I'll get the preliminary report to the detectives. I appreciated your assistance, Doctor Elder, and I hope I can call on you if more evidence comes to light."

Nickie stripped off his own gloves and followed Andrews into the changing room. "Yes. That would be... Well, I guess I'd best head back to my hotel."

"I'll get one of the officers to drop you back." He made a call and within a few minutes, a detective poked his head around the door.

"Someone need a lift?"

Nickie shook hands with Andrews and followed on behind the detective.

****

It was late afternoon by the time Nickie woke up. The phone beside the bed was ringing and he fumbled it before managing to get it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Nickie?"

"Peter!"

"Thought I'd check up on you."

"Oh. Uh...How goes the case with the frozen blood?"

"You were right. It was murder. It was something strange going on with the fairground ride. My dad somehow got involved and...you know how it goes."

"That's great. Not for the kid because being scared to death isn't..."

"Yeah. What about this body on the beach?"

"Done my part. It's up to the detectives now."

"So you're going to get back to that vacation now?"

"Sun, sea, sand and hot babes," he replied too lightly, aching inside at the partial lie but he didn't want Peter to know that he only had interest in a certain hot guy.

"Nickie, it's okay not to want the hot babes." Peter didn't wait for a response. "It's okay to want me."

Nickie felt his throat close up and choked out, "You...you knew?"

"My dad spouted some Shaolin cryptic stuff and left me to work it out...again. It took a while to figure that it went both ways, Nickie." He went quiet for a moment. "Hey, I'm sorry I was such an asshole to you the other day, ignoring you. Kind of took me by surprise and then I got all pissed that you'd be looking for someone else down there."

"It's... Do you think I could fly home early?"

Peter laughed. "How about I fly down there instead?"

"You really want to...?"

"I'm already in the airport waiting for my Honolulu flight to be called." In the background Nickie heard a flight call. "Hey, that's my flight now. See you in a few hours?"

A few hours. Nickie could barely believe it. "I'll be waiting at the airport."

Peter disconnected the call and it took a few more seconds before Nickie replaced the handset, grinning so hard that it hurt. Hawaii was going to be a paradise for him after all.

END


End file.
